In a welcome news for India diaspora in Canada, the country’s immigration minister Marc Miller introduced a legislation that will extend citizenship by descent beyond the first-generation.
The Citizenship Act was amended in 2009 to add a ‘first-generation limit’ to citizenship by descent. This meant that a Canadian citizen parent could pass on citizenship to a child born outside Canada only if the parent was either born in Canada or naturalised before the child’s birth.
However, because of the first-generation limit, Canadian citizens who were born outside Canada could not in turn pass on citizenship to their child, if the child was also born outside Canada.vNor could they apply for a direct grant of citizenship for a child adopted from outside Canada.
The proposed amendment comes in the wake of a court ruling, last year, which held the first-generation limit to be unconstitutional. TOI, in its edition of Jan 23, had reported that the Canadian government would not appeal against this order.
Pavan Dhillon, immigration attorney illustrates the first-generation limit. Mrs A was born in India and was its former citizen. Subsequently after migrating, she acquired Canadian citizenship. On her return to India, she bore a child – ‘B.’ Now, ‘B’ was eligible to be a Canadian citizen through descent. Subsequently, ‘B’ (a Canadian citizen) could not under the first-generation limit rule pass on citizenship to her child (let us name him C) if C was also born outside Canada.
According to the proposed amendment children born abroad to Canadians since 2009, would automatically be granted citizenship. A new substantial connection test would be created for those born outside Canada, after the new law comes into effect.
Those Indians who post enactment of the proposed legislation are eligible to become Canadian citizens and want to opt for it, will have to give up their Indian citizenship, as dual citizenship is not permitted. The proposed provisions require that “parents born abroad who have or adopt children also born outside Canada will need to have spent at least 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada prior to the birth or adoption of their child to pass on citizenship”.
Ken Nickel-Lane, immigration expert states, “This announcement could be very significant to a large group of individuals worldwide, notably Indian Nationals given that they are our largest source of new Canadians.”
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